Plasma concentration of urokinase plasminogen activator receptor is a marker of kidney allograft function

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is found in a variety of cell types including monocytes, lymphocytes, macrophages, and endothelial cells and plays an important role in fibrinolysis and in the activation and chemotaxis of neutrophils and lymphocytes. In this study, we examined the correlation between uPAR plasma concentration and kidney allograft function.

This study enrolled 78 Caucasian deceased-donor renal transplant recipients.

Plasma concentrations of uPAR were measured using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits.

We observed elevated with borderline significance (p = 0.095) uPAR plasma concentrations in patients with tubular atrophy. Plasma concentrations of uPAR showed strong statistically significant positive correlations with serum creatinine or urea and strong negative correlation with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). There was also a borderline positive correlation between uPAR plasma concentration and protein concentration in urine as well as the duration of hemodialysis.

The results of our study indicate that uPAR plasma concentrations in kidney allograft recipients are significantly negatively correlated with graft function and may be elevated in patients with tubular atrophy.